Part 26
3. It entrained on October 26 at Chatelet and was transferred to the area of Cerny-en-Laonnois. On the 28th it was interpolated between two divisions (the 10th Division and the 27th Division) on the front Bassoles-Fresnes, in the upper Coucy wood, which it occupied until the middle of February, 1918.
RECRUITING.
The 14th Reserve Division is recruited from Westphalia. As it suffered very little in 1917, the division probably did not receive in the course of that year the heterogeneous replacements which were sent—perhaps intentionally—to the other Westphalian divisions.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 14th Reserve Division did not participate in any important action in the course of the year 1917. It was thoroughly reorganized during its long stay in Champagne. It is composed for the most part of young men (20 to 30 years of age) and has suffered but few losses (a slight proportion of the 1918 class).
Its valor has not been put to any serious test since Verdun. It appears capable of serious effort.
1918.
LAON.
1. The division was withdrawn from line in the St. Gobain region and went to rest in the neighborhood of Laon. It was trained in open warfare during the weeks that followed.
2. On March 16 some equipment belonging to the 53d Reserve Regiment was found west of Laon, near Champs, but it is unlikely that the division was in line there; it was not identified in any other way. It was identified in line in that region, however, on the 6th of April. It was withdrawn on May 29.
AISNE.
3. The division went immediately to the Aisne battle front, where it was identified by prisoners in the Vierzy sector (south of Soissons) on May 31. It was withdrawn about the 10th of June and rested for a month in the region of Fere en Tardenois.
4. On July 8 it relieved the 47th Reserve Division near Chavigny (south of Soissons). The 47th Reserve Division relieved part of the 14th Reserve Division on the 12th, and the 14th Reserve seems to have come back in its entirety on the 16th. During this fighting, the division lost more than 1,500 prisoners. It was withdrawn on July 20, and went to rest and refit in the neighborhood of Mulhouse.
NESLE.
5. The division entrained on the 22d of August at Birnsweiler and traveled via Saarbruecken-Trier-Herbesthal-Liége-Namur-Charleroi-Condé, detraining at Tincourt the night of August 23–24. On the 26th it reinforced the front near Thilloy (southwest of Nesle). It was withdrawn on September 9, after losing some 1,300 prisoners, and went to rest in Alsace in the neighborhood of Oltingen.
CHAMPAGNE.
6. On October 9, it reinforced the front near Orfeuil (southwest of Vouziers).
7. On October 28, the division was moved eastward to Boult, so as to help to hinder the American advance. It was still in line on November 11.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
After the division’s participation in the battle of the Aisne, Lieut. Gen. Loeb, its commander, was awarded the order Pour le Mérite. Again, the German communiqué of September 2 spoke highly of the fighting of the 56th Reserve Regiment. A captured regimental order mentions the fact that there had been many cases of the grippe. The division suffered such severe losses that most of the men from the 47th Reserve Division, dissolved in July, were sent to it. Nevertheless, the battalions were reduced to three companies in August. Despite its subsequent heavy losses (the 159th Regiment was reduced to 600 men, and the other regiment to about the same size), the division is still considered as being first class.
14th Landwehr Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │21 Ldw. │10 Ldw. │21 Ldw. │10 Ldw. │ │38 Ldw. │ │38 Ldw. │ │101 Ldw. │46 Ldw. │101 Ldw. │ │103 Ldw. │ │103 Ldw. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │ │93 Cav. Regt. │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │82 F. A. Rgt. (1 Ers. Abt.). │217 F. A. Rgt. │ │ │ │908 F. A. Btry. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│ │1 Ers. Co. 23 Pions. Liaisons. │ │ │ │314 T. M. Co. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transports. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Odd units. │ │155 Cyclist Co. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │10 Landst. Inf. Rgt. ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │21 Ldw. │10 Ldw. │ │337 (2 Btn.). │ │38 Ldw. │ │ │ │346. │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │2 Sqn. 6 Cuirassier Rgt. │1 Sqn. 17 Uhlan Rgt. │2 Sqn. 93 Cav. Rgt. │2 Sqn. 17 Uhlan Rgt. │1 Body Hus. Rgt. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │Art. Command: │253 Ldw. F. A. Rgt. (3d Btry. │ │ 1st Abt.) │ 217 F. A. Rgt. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│(414) Pion. Btn.: │272 Searchlight Section. Liaisons. │ │ │ 2 Ldw. Co. 3 C. Dist. Pions.│514 Tel. Detch. │ 1 Ers. Co. 23 Pions. │ │ 314 T. M. Co. │ │ 338 Searchlight Section. │ │ 514 Tel. Detch. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │218 Ambulance Co. │257 Field Hospital. Veterinary.│ │ │143 Field Hospital. │167 Field Hospital. │257 Field Hospital. │ │170 Vet. Hospital. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transports. │473 M. T. Col. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Odd units. │155 Cyclist Co. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │ ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
HISTORY.
(346th Infantry Regiment: 5th Corps District—Posen. 10th and 38th Landwehr Regiments: 6th Corps District—Silesia.)
1915.
RUSSIA-POLAND.
1. The 14th Landwehr Division appeared in Poland about the middle of July, 1915, in the Sierpec area.
It appeared to be made up at this time of the 21st Mixed Brigade of Landwehr (10th and 38th Landwehr Regiments, taken from the Breslau Corps), elements of the Graudenz Corps, the 46th Landwehr Brigade (Pfeil Brigade—101st and 103d Landwehr Regiments). At all events, the 14th Landwehr Division does not appear to have received its complete coherence until the stabilization of the front which followed the summer offensive against the Russians.
SMORGONI.
2. The division then took position in the Smorgoni sector (September). It remained there until February, 1918.
1916.
1. In 1916 the division remained in the Smorgoni sector.
1917.
1. In 1917 the division remained in the Smorgoni sector.
2. About the month of April, 1917, the 101st and 103d Landwehr Regiments (Saxon) were taken from the 14th Landwehr Division and assigned to the 46th Landwehr Division, a new formation on the Eastern Front. They were replaced in the 14th Landwehr Division by the 346th Regiment, which formerly belonged to the 87th Division.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The division is of mediocre value.
1918.
MINSK.
1. At the beginning of 1918 the 14th Landwehr Division was still on the Smorgoni front, which it left about the middle of February to march farther toward the east. “We are advancing right into Russia,” wrote a man of the 38th Landwehr Regiment on March 7. About the middle of March the division went into cantonment in the vicinity of Orcha and Kochanovo on the Minsk-Smolensk Railroad. It was still there at the end of April.
2. Sent to France during May, the 14th Landwehr Division arrived in Alsace with only two regiments, the 10th and 38th Landwehr Regiments. The division seems to have been dissolved soon afterwards, the 10th Landwehr seeming to be attached to the 301st Division and the 38th Landwehr to the 4th Cavalry Division.
3. The latter part of June the division was reconstituted on the Russian front after the departure of these two regiments for the West, with the following units: 103d Landwehr (from the 46th Landwehr Division), 343d Ersatz (from the 87th Division), and the 3d Landsturm (14th Landwehr Division). On the 30th of July the division was identified in the Orcha region. Late in September the division was identified in the same region.
VALUE.
The division was rated as fourth class.
14th Bavarian Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1916 │ 1917 │ 1918[11] ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │8 Bav. │4 Bav. │8 Bav. │4 Bav. │8 Bav. │4 Bav. │ │8 Bav. │ │8 Bav. │ │8 Bav. │ │29 Bav. │ │25 Bav. │ │25 Bav. ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │ │4 Sqn. 8 Bav. Light│4 Sqn. 8 Bav. Light │ │ Cav. Rgt. │ Cav. Rgt. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │23 Bav. F. A. Rgt. │14 Bav. Art. │14 Bav. Art. │ │ Command: │ Command: │ │ 23 Bav. F. A. Rgt.│ 23 Bav. F. A. Rgt. │ │ (10 Btries.). │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│ │14 Bav. Pion. Btn.:│14 Bav. Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ │ │ │ │ 10 Bav. Res. Pion.│ 10 Bav. Res. Pion. │ │ Co. │ Co. │ │ 11 Bav. Res. Pion.│ 11 Bav. Res. Pion. │ │ Co. │ Co. │ │ 14 Bav. T. M. Co. │ 101 Searchlight │ │ │ Section. │ │ 101 Searchlight │ 14 Bav. T. M. Co. │ │ Section. │ │ │ 14 Bav. Tel. │ 14 Bav. Tel. │ │ Detch. │ Detch. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │ │14 Bav. Ambulance │14 Bav. Ambulance Veterinary.│ │ Co. │ Co. │ │1 Bav. Field │1 Bav. Field │ │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │ │47 Bav. Field │47 Bav. Field │ │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │ │Vet. Hospital. │Vet. Hospital. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │ │694 M. T. Col. │694 Bav. M. T. Col. ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
Footnote 11:
Composition at time of dissolution, Sept. 1, 1918.
HISTORY.
(4th and 8th Bavarian Infantry Regiments: Second Bavarian District. 25th Bavarian Infantry Regiment: Bavarian District.)
1916.
The 14th Bavarian Division was formed, at the beginning of August, 1916, with the 8th Bavarian Brigade (4th and 8th Bavarian Infantry Regiments), withdrawn from the 33d Reserve Division, and with the 29th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, formed at this time.
VERDUN.
1. The 14th Bavarian Division, going into line at the end of August, 1916, in the Vaux Chapitre wood, launched a violent attack on September 3 to the southwest of the fort of Vaux and continued to hold this sector until October 10.
At the end of October, the 29th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, whose losses in the Vaux sector were considerable, was dissolved and replaced by the 25th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, taken from the 192d Division, and raised from two to three battalions.
2. Having thus received its present composition, the 14th Bavarian Division went back into line on the Haute de Meuse (Calonne trench) on October 22.
SOMME-ANCRE.
3. Relieved at the beginning of November and sent to rest, it was then sent to the Somme, where, about November 26, it took over the sector north of the Ancre.
1917.
1. The 14th Bavarian Division left the Ancre front at the end of January, 1917, passed the month of February at rest in the Denain area, and came back into line on the Somme, northeast of Gueudecourt, on February 26. It was withdrawn on March 20 at the time of the German retirement.
ARTOIS.
2. At the beginning of April it went into action against the British offensive in the Roclincourt (north of Arras) and suffered heavily (about 2,800 prisoners on Apr. 9).
RUSSIA-RIGA.
3. Sent to rest in Belgium, it remained for several days in the Ghent area, and then entrained for the Eastern Front (Apr. 26–28). About May 14 it went into line near Lipsk (south of Baranovitchi); in June it took over the sector of Tsirin, where it remained until the end of the August. It was then transferred to the Riga front (Sept. 1) and went into action on September 14 in the neighborhood of Uxkuell. It left there on September 18.
4. About September 20 it went into line west of Jakobstadt and took part in the action of the 21st.
5. At the end of October the 14th Bavarian Division was sent to Galicia. It was identified in the neighborhood of Tarnopol on November 1 and, for the last time, on December 14 (fraternizing).
FRANCE.
6. The division left the Tarnopol area on December 19 for the Western Front. Itinerary: Posen-Leipzig-Frankfort-Kreuznach-Thionville. It detrained at Wasigny and Saulces-Monclin (near Rethel) on December 23.
RECRUITING.
The 14th Bavarian Division is recruited from the 2d and 3d Bavarian Corps Districts.
VALUE.
The 8th Bavarian Brigade (4th and 8th Bavarian Infantry Regiments), which helped form the 14th Bavarian Division, is a strong body belonging, in peace times, to the garrison at Metz.
It distinguished itself at the battle of Eparges (March-April, 1915), at the attack of September 3, 1916 (Vaux-Chapitre wood).
The morale of the 14th Bavarian Division appears to be high. No deserter has been found since the arrival of the division on the Western Front (December, 1917). The 14th Bavarian Division has always been a good division (January, 1918).
1918.
CHAMPAGNE.
1. The 14th Bavarian Division embarked at Tarnopol on December 19 and traveled via Kalicz-Posen-Leipsic-Frankfort-Kreusnach-Thionville- Wassigny (north of Rethel), where it detrained on the 23d. On January 12 it relieved the 7th Reserve Division in the Mont Haut sector. It was relieved by the 80th Reserve Division on April 22.
PICARDY.
2. On the 26th the division entrained at Neuflize, detraining on the following day near Mericourt (northeast of St. Quentin). From there it marched via Bellenglise-Vermand-Mons en Chaussee-Brie-Foucaucourt to Framerville. On May 3 it relieved the 208th Division in the Hangard sector (southeast of Amiens). It was relieved on the 21st by the 225th Division.
3. The division remained in close support, and relieved the 15th Division one sector to the south on the 23d. It was withdrawn during the night of June 20–21, and rested in rear of the front for over a month.
4. About July 23, it relieved the 21st Division in the Castel sector (north of Hangard). In the fighting that followed the division suffered heavy losses, especially in the British attack of August 8. It was withdrawn about the 13th in a badly shattered condition, it having lost some 2,500 prisoners.
5. It was in line again on the 29th northwest of Villers-Carbonnel (southwest of Peronne), and was withdrawn about the 2d of September. Soon thereafter, the 14th Bavarian Division was disbanded—the 4th Bavarian went to the 4th Bavarian Division to replace the 5th Bavarian Reserves (dissolved); the 8th Bavarian went to the 16th Bavarian Division to replace the 21st Bavarian Reserves (dissolved); the 25th Bavarian went to the 6th Bavarian Reserves Division to replace the 17th Bavarian Reserves (dissolved). The commanding general and his staff were identified at Malineson October 24, but there is nothing to show what they were doing there, or where they went.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
Previous to 1918 the 14th Bavarian was always considered a first-class division. Since then, however, it seems to have fallen off somewhat; it was not used in any of the German offensives, and it is significant that a battalion of the 2d Bavarian Division was used in its sector (south of Hailles) when it was desired to make a raid, and also that two of the divisions receiving regiments when the 14th Bavarian was disbanded were second class. The division lost over 2,000 prisoners, including all three regiment staffs and the staffs of several of the battalions.
15th Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1914 │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┴───────── Infantry. │29. │25. │29. │25. │Jan. to Aug., 1916. │ │161. │ │161. │29. │25. │80. │65. │80. │65. │ │161. │ │160. │ │160. │80. │65. │ │ │ │ │ │160. │ │ │ │ │Aug. to Nov., 1916. │ │ │ │ │ │186. │ │ │ │ │ │160. │ │ │ │ │ │389. │ │ │ │ │ After Nov. │ │ │ │ │ │69. │ │ │ │ │ │160. │ │ │ │ │ │389. ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │ │ │7 Hus. Rgt. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │15 Brig.: │15 Brig.: │15 Brig.: │ 59 F. A. Rgt. │ 59 F. A. Rgt. │ 59 F. A. Rgt. │ 83 F. A. Rgt. │ 83 F. A. Rgt. │ 83 F. A. Rgt. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│ │1 Pion. Btn. No. 8:│1 Pion. Btn. No. 8: Liaisons. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Field Co. 8 Pions.│ 1 Co. 8 Pions. │ │ 15 Tel. Detch. │ 5 Co. 8 Pions. │ │ 15 Pont. Engs. │ 15 T. M. Co. │ │ │ 15 Pont. Engs. │ │ │ 15 Tel. Detch. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │ │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │ │69 Anti-Aircraft │ │ │ Section. ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
─────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │80. │69. │80. │69. │ │160. │ │137. │ │389. │ │160. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │2 Sqn. 7 Hus. Rgt. │2 Sqn. 7 Hus. Rgt. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │15 Art. Command: │15 Art. Command: │ 59 F. A. Rgt. │ 59 F. A. Rgt. │ │ 135 Ft. A. Btn. │ │ 707 Light Am. Col. │ │ 744 Light Am. Col. │ │ 1295 Light Am. │ │ Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│125 Pion. Btn. (1 │125 Pion. Btn. Liaisons. │ Pion. Btn. No. │ │ 8): │ │ 1 Co. 8 Pions. │ 1 Co. 8 Pions. │ 5 Co. 8 Pions. │ 5 Co. 8 Pions. │ 15 T. M. Co. │ 15 T. M. Co. │ 15 Tel. Detch. │ 108 T. M. Co. │ │ 41 Searchlight │ │ Section. │ │15 Signal Command: │ │ 15 Tel. Detch. │ │ 113 Wireless │ │ Detch. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │19 Ambulance Co. │19 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │Field Hospital. │82 Field Hospital. │Vet. Hospital. │83 Field Hospital. │ │15 Vet. Hospital. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │M. T. Col. No. 800.│548 M. T. Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │ │ │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
HISTORY.
(8th Corps District—Rhine Province.)
1914.
1. Upon mobilization, the 15th Division (Aix la Chapelle, Cologne, Bonn, etc.) formed with the 16th Division an organic part of the 8th Army Corps and was in the 4th Army (Duke of Wuerttemberg).
2. Temporarily detaching the 25th Infantry Regiment (Aix la Chapelle) from the corps at the siege at Liege, the 15th Division entered, on August 6, into Luxemburg, where it had been preceded by the 16th Division (Treves). It entered into Belgian Luxemburg on the 19th and 20th of August. Went into action on the 22d and 23d—Porcheresse, Graid, Bièvre—and entered France on the 26th. While the 29th Brigade was crossing the Meuse at Sedan the 80th entered at Mezieres. Again uniting on the 30th, the 15th Division went through Champagne by way of Somme Py and Suippes and took part in the battle of the Marne at Vitry le Francois. It then withdrew to Souain and Perthes, where it remained as a whole until November.
CHAMPAGNE.
3. At this time the 29th Brigade was taken to the Ypres front until the end of December, at which date it went to the south of Alsace, making a part of the combined division of Fuchs. The separation of the two brigades lasted until May, 1915. The 29th Brigade lost heavily in Alsace, where the 25th Infantry Regiment was reduced to 600 men on March 26, 1915 (soldier’s notebook).
1915.
1. The 15th Division, in which the 29th Brigade was temporarily replaced by the 1st Bavarian Landwehr Brigade, remained in Champagne until the beginning of April, 1915. At that date it went to reenforce the 3d Bavarian Corps near St. Mihiel in the Ailly wood.
ARTOIS.
2. At the end of May the 15th Division again had both its brigades (29th and 80th) and went into action at Artois until the middle of June. It suffered heavy losses. The 161st Infantry Regiment lost 31 officers and 1,653 men (official list of casualties).
AISNE.
3. From June, 1915, until June, 1916, the 15th Division occupied various sectors of the Aisne: Vailly-Pommiers (end of July), Nouvron (September), Ste. Marguerite-Bucy le Long (October).
1916.
SOMME.
1. July, 1916, the 15th Division was transferred to the Somme. It took
## part in the battle and participated in the attack at Biaches, where it
suffered heavy losses.
2. At the end of August it again took over its sector, St. Marguerite- Bucy le Long. Its composition was modified by the temporary loss of the 160th Infantry Regiment, sent to the combined division of Dumrath (August), by the definite transfer of the 65th Infantry Regiment and the 161st Infantry Regiment to the 185th Division, and of the 25th Infantry Regiment to the 208th Division.
3. At the beginning of October it had received in exchange for the regiments transferred the 186th Infantry Regiment (temporarily) and the 389th Infantry Regiment, a new formation (men taken from various Rhine regiments), and received the 160th Infantry Regiment again (the Dumrath Division having been dissolved). It reappeared on the Somme front (Sailly-Saillisel), where it again suffered heavy losses.
AISNE.
4. At the end of October it returned to the Aisne and occupied the sectors of Nuvron-Moulin sous Touvent. It was reorganized finally in November and received its definitive composition.
RUSSIA.
5. About the middle of November the 15th Division was withdrawn from the front, entrained after a few days’ rest, and transferred to the Eastern Front. It went into line north of Kisselin.
1917.
1. In February, 1917, the division was in Transylvania (upper valley of the Olta).
2. In April it was in reserve at Vladimir-Volynski.
FRANCE.
3. Transferred to the French front (entrained at Kovel, detrained at Vigneulles, at the end of April), the division occupied the sector of Vaux les Palameix (Meuse).
CALIFORNIE PLATEAU.
4. At the end of May it was relieved and sent (night of May 29–30) to the Vauclerc Plateau and the Californie Plateau. On June 2 and 3 it took
## part in the violent attack upon these plateaus. It renewed these attacks
upon July 3 and again suffered heavy losses.
LORRAINE.
5. The division was relieved on the night of July 8–9 and then sent to the Lys area, from which it was transferred into the zone Richecourt- Avricourt. It was put in line (July 15) near Blamont.
FLANDERS.
6. It was relieved about September 4, sent to rest in the Verdun area, and transferred to Belgium on October 7, where it was in action and suffered heavily on the Ypres front (north of the Ypres-Menin road) until November 13.
7. The division was then sent to the rear (area of Bruges-Knocke).
8. It again went into line east of Ypres about December 18 (east of Passchendaele). In the middle of January, 1918, it was withdrawn from this sector and sent to the Bruges area.
RECRUITING.
The 15th Division is easily recruited from the populous districts of the Rhine Provinces. In case of heavy losses and urgent necessity for reenforcements, the need has been felt for having recourse to the rest of the Rhine country in the widest sense of the word, that is to say, Rhenish Hessia and the Grand Duchy of Baden, in return for reenforcements sent elsewhere. The frequence of the relation and the community of interests which unites these regions assures the 15th Division, under all circumstances, the advantages of regional homogeneity.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 15th Division, in spite of the lack of success of its efforts, has given the impression of being a good division.